Narendra Modi: What is this man up to?

Kingshuk Nag, TNNMar 3, 2004, 01.19pm IST

On the crowded streets and alleys of Ahmedabad, there's a hot rumour that chief minister Narendra Modi will contest the Lok Sabha polls. Will he?

Ask the CM's groupies and they dismiss all this as mere speculation, canards spread by 'enemies' of 'Gujarat ka sher.' But make no mistake: Modi may not be contesting the Lok Sabha polls, but he's playing for high stakes in April-May's elections.

"There are 26 seats in Gujarat and Narendrabhai will go all out to achieve cent percent results," said a source in the CM's camp. And all this will be with a purpose.

"The intra-BJP politics is a bit like NDA coalition partner politics. Each ally wants to win more seats to have a greater voice in the government-to-be. Similarly leaders like Modi would want to send a huge contingent to Lok Sabha to be a major player in New Delhi while sitting in Gandhinagar," said an analyst familiar with the CM. But is that all there is to Narendra Modi, the man who led the BJP to a huge victory after the Gujarat carnage?

Not really. Many feel that Modi's ambitions are bigger -- he wants to shoot for the prime minister's job --no less -- after the elections of 2009.

For this, Modi has to position himself from now onwards. But ask Modi, and he denies all this. He told TOI a few weeks ago: " I am content to serve in Gujarat. I have no wish to go elsewhere."

But there is a catch in the Modi plan. Possibly anticipating Modi's gameplan, the powers that be --equally ambitious folks in the New Delhi BJP -- have propped up his bete noire Keshubhai Patel, making him an invitee to the parliamentary board that will finalise candidates.

RSS' Sanjay Joshi, with whom Modi shares cold vibes, is also part of this set up.